This paper questions whether the second Millennium Development Goal of achieving universal primary education targets by 2015 for all children to complete a full course of primary schooling, can be realised. A key contention of this paper is that this forecast is far-fetched when we take into cognizance refugee children's accessibility to…

In some American schools, about a fifth of the fathers have spent time in prison during their child's primary education. We examine how variation across schools in the aggregation and concentration of the mass imprisonment of fathers is associated with their own children's intergenerational educational outcomes and "spills over" into the…

In recent years, growing numbers of policymakers, city officials, and educators have been eyeing the expanse of time outside the education prime time and asking a simple question: What can communities do to help children grow and learn after the school bell rings? The concern is that too many children and teens, especially the poor, are left to…

Attending school and securing lawful status in the United States are two keys to safety and security for undocumented unaccompanied homeless youth. This brief is designed to provide young people, immigration attorneys and advocates, McKinney-Vento liaisons and educators with basic information to help them access these keys. After describing some…

For most full-time employed parents, the gap between the end of the school day and the time they arrive home from work adds up to about 20 to 25 hours per week. Thus, many parents look to afterschool programs to satisfy their desire for safe, enriching experiences for their children while they are working. "Afterschool" is the general term used to…

The U.S. has set as a national goal the narrowing of the achievement gap between lower income and middle-class students, and that between racial and ethnic groups. This is a key purpose of the No Child Left Behind act, which relies primarily on assessment to promote changes within schools to accomplish that goal. However, out-of-school factors…

When the bell rings at the end of a school day, millions of children are left to their own devices while they wait for their families to return home at the end of the work day. Findings from a study conducted by the Afterschool Alliance, "America After 3PM," show that 15.1 million children are unsupervised when the school day ends. The…

With most parents now in the workforce, the demand for high-quality out-of-school time (OST) opportunities for children and youth continues to grow across the country. An estimated 14.3 million children and youth return each day to an empty home unsupervised, and with no opportunities to constructively occupy their time. By building strong,…

As childhood obesity has increased, schools have struggled with their role in this epidemic. Parents with a school-age child in a suburban latchkey program were surveyed regarding their perceptions of childhood obesity, body mass index, and the school's role in prevention and treatment of obesity. More than 80% of participants identified…

In approximately 60% of married-couple families with children under the age of 18, both parents work outside the home. Among single-parent families in 2004, the mother was employed in 72% of those maintained by women, and the father was employed in 83% of those maintained by men. 55% of all children in low-income families have at least one parent…

Unaccompanied youth are young people who lack safe, stable housing and who are not in the care of a parent or guardian. They may have run away from home or been forced to leave by their parents. Unaccompanied youth live in a variety of temporary situations, including shelters, the homes of friends or relatives, cars, campgrounds, public parks,…

In this article, the authors consider the conditions under which participation in organized out-of-school activities contributes to positive development. They center their discussion on what is known about the "processes" in organized activities that affect the development of young persons. By using the term "organized activities", they wish to…

Children will face many critical issues in the 21st century. Unfortunately, most of these issues are not new and have remained the same from previous years. Millions of children lack safe, affordable, quality child care and early childhood education while their parents work. Seven and one-half million children are at home alone without…

During a typical week, as many as 14 million children and youth across the United States lack adult supervision during non-school hours. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the lack of structured and supervised afterschool programs in American communities contributes to a higher incidence of drug and alcohol use and delinquent…